The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), sponsored by The Stars Group Inc.’s flagship PokerStars brand, came to an end on Sunday, January 14 with a total prize pool of more than $22 million. The PCA, which runs for a week each January in the Bahamas, attracted 1,015 unique players from 64 different countries this year and generated a total of 4,510 entries across 31 PokerStars-sponsored tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $210 to $100,000.
In addition to various PCA-related promotions, rewards and activities, PokerStars also awarded five Platinum Passes to the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC), which takes place in January 2019. Each Platinum Pass is worth $30,000 and includes a $25,000 PSPC buy-in, accommodation at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and approximately $2,000 for travel and expenses.
Professional poker player Maria Lampropulos of Buenos Aires, Argentina beat a field of 582 players to win the PCA Main Event, taking home just over $1 million. Lampropulos is the first female player to win the PCA Main Event and was also awarded a Platinum Pass to the PSPC for her first-place finish.
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Maria Konnikova provided another PCA highlight by beating 290 players to win the PCA National Championship, taking home $84,600 and a Platinum Pass, and finishing 42nd in the PCA Main Event. Konnikova, a Harvard and Columbia graduate with a Ph.D. in psychology, is being tutored by poker professional Erik Seidel in an effort to go from poker-newcomer to professional in just 12-months, an experience she intends to publish in an upcoming book.
